Crews work to remove body of Laura VanRyn from grave

Tragic case of mistaken identify continues

Tragic case of mistaken identify continues

June 06, 2006

By JOHN FLESHERAssociated Press Writer

GAYLORD, Mich. Â? Crews worked today to exhume the body of Laura VanRyn from a northern Michigan cemetery plot where the parents of another young woman had buried her in a tragic case of mistaken identity.

The effort to remove VanRyn's casket came nearly a week after the stunning news that fellow Indiana college classmate Whitney Cerak Â? not VanRyn Â? had survived an April traffic crash in which five people died.

Since April 30, it was believed that Cerak's body lay at Fairview Cemetery in Gaylord, when in fact, it was VanRyn's.

Cerak, 19, and VanRyn, 22, looked alike, both attractive young women with blond hair, similar facial features and the same build and height.

They were together the night of April 26, returning from banquet preparations with a group from Taylor University, when a tractor-trailer slammed into their university van.

Cerak's family was told their daughter was among the dead. VanRyn's parents were told their daughter was alive but seriously injured and in a coma.

The VanRyns kept vigil at the young woman's bedside for weeks in the Grand Rapids area Â? 180 miles south of Gaylord Â? but as she gained consciousness, she began saying things that didn't make sense. Last week, they discovered that the recovering patient wasn't their daughter at all. She was Cerak.